crowden



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

' 0. T. GROWDEN.

APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING CYCLE ADJUSTMENTS. No. 600,408. Patented Mar. 8,1898.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

0. T. GR'OWDEN. APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING CYCLE ADJUSTMENTS.

No. 600,408. Patented M0108, 1898.

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STATES PATENT l nnicn,

CHARLES THOMAS GROVVDEN, OF BEESTON, ENGLAND.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 600,408, dated March 8, 1898.

Application filed December 21, 1896. Serial No. 616,495. (No modeh) To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES THOMAS CRow- DEN, a subject of the Queen of England, residing at Beeston, in the county of Nottingham, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to the Predetermination of Cycle Adjustments, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the means for or method of ascertaining the various adj ustments or dimensions necessary to be known in order to suit a rider with a cycle.

The device or apparatus employed may resemble a cycle or not and may be either a fixture or movable, but must be provided with the necessary parts to be adjusted-as, for example, the handles, the saddle, the pedals, etc. hen a person is going to ride a machine not previously fitted to him, he must first adjust the various parts to his length of limb and various requirementsas, for example, he must raise or lower the saddle so as to get the right length of leg, and he must also bring the saddle forward or backward, accordin g to the position that he prefers. The handles also must be raised or lowered, and although means for adjusting the-width between the handles and the backward or forward position of these handles, and possibly the angle of the handles as well, are not usually obtainable upon a bicycle, they should be included in such a machine or apparatus as I am now describing.

The framework may be of any desired materials, shape, or construction, whether representing a bicycle or other velocipede or not, but must be so arranged as to carry the various parts of which the adjustment is to be determined, each of these parts being arranged so that it can be promptly adjusted, preferably while the rider is upon the apparatus.

Figure 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away, showing the front part of the device. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the back part of the device.

A is the main frame, the parts A of which rest upon or are secured to the ground or floor.

A and A are tubes forming part of the frame and parallel with each other, being respectively disposed in the same relationship as the head-tube and down-tube of a diamondframe safety-bicycle. The tube A receives a preferably hollow spindle 0, serving as the handle-bar stem and carrying'at its upper end the handle-bar E. The tube A is a guide for a sliding and preferably hollow spindle D, serving as a seat-pillar.

C is a shaft carried in the lower end of the tube A and provided with a hand-wheel C by which it can be rotated, and with a collar C to prevent it from moving endwise. The upper or inner end of the shaft O is screwthreaded and engages corresponding threads in the lower end of the spindle O, which it enters. The spindle C is made non-rotatable in the tube A by a key A, fixed in the side of the tube, so as to extend into a keyway 0 formed along one side of the spindle; or other means may be employed to prevent it from turning.

C is a graduated scale on the spindle O to be read with reference to the upper end of the tube A which will serve as an index. By rotating the hand-wheel C to move the spindle 0 up or down by means of the screwed shaft C the position of the top end of the handle-bar stem may be adjusted in the direction of the length of the tube A as desired in relation to the frame A.

The spindle D carries at its upper end the saddle F, and in other respects resembles the spindle 0, being graduated, as shown at D and provided with akey D and keyway D At the lower end of the tube A in which the spindle D slides, is a shaft D, rotatable in the tube and screwed into the spindle D. To the lower end of this shaft is fixed a bevelwheel D gearing with a bevel-wheel D the latter being found upon a shaft D rotatable in a bearing at A in the frame A and provided with a hand-wheelD By rotating the hand-wheel D the movement of rotation is transmitted by the bevel-wheels D D to the rod D, which thereupon raises or lowers the saddle-supporting spindle D, as desired. In bearings A is a crank-shaft G, with crankarms G, carried by it. These arms G are arranged to slide endwise in blocks G fixed on the ends of the shaft G, and may be adjusted to vary the throw as desired.

G is a graduated scale on each crank-arm to enable the throw to which the pedals are adjusted to be readily ascertained.

G is a set-screw in each block G to return the crank-arm in the positions to which it may be adjusted.

The adjustable handle-bar stem, seat-pillar, and cranks might constitute, in combination with the frame A, a complete apparatus; but it is preferred to apply to the spindles O and D one or more of the additional adjustments hereinafter described.

The handle-bar E, or whatever carries the handles, may be provided with an arrangement by which the handles E may be caused to approach or recede from each other. For example, in the device illustrated, E are tubes with clips E at their ends, the outer parts of the handle-bar sliding telescopically on the tubes E and being held in the position to which they are adjusted by tightening the screws E of the clips E The tubes E are carried by a block H, supported at the head of the spindle C.

To enable the handles to be adjusted backward and forward, the block H, by which they are borne, is arranged to travel backward and forward in the frame J, which is fixed to the head of the spindle C and lies in the central plane of the machine and at an angle to the spindle (3, as shown. H is a handle operating a screw H by which the block H is reciprocated in the frame J. H is a graduated scale by which the extent of this adj ustment is read off.

The handles may be adjusted to any desired angle at the head of the handle-bar stem 0.

For this purpose in the machine now being described they are pivoted in a bearing H on the block H and are rotatable in that bearing to the angle desired. The handle-bar has fixed to it a pointer E working against a graduated scale H fixed to the block H, so that after adjustment of the handle to the desired extent the angle to which it is adj usted can readily be seen.

To enable the saddle F to be adjusted backward and forward, it is carried by a block F, adjustable by a screw F in a slotted bar M, fixed at the head of the spindle D, the screw being rotated by the hand-wheel F and the bar M graduated to enable the extent of the adjustment of the saddle to be readily'determined. The bar M may, if desired, be tilted in a vertical plane in any well-known manner. It is desirable that the parts should be so arranged as to permit the saddle to be adjusted while the rider is seated upon it.

In order to more accurately determine the adjustment of the saddle, it is advisable that the cranks and pedals be constructed so as to be rotatable by the rider, for it is only when operating the pedals, as in riding, that the adj ustment of the saddle can be properly determined.

Brake-power or other arrangements may be adopted whereby the effect upon the rider of higher or lower gearing can be tested, so he can try his capability in that respect, and thus avoid ordering a gearing'which does not suit him. The width of tread may also be adjustable, if desired.

Instead of the screws for adjusting the height of the handle-bar and seat-pillar or for making the other adjustments in the apparatus other gearing may be used.

The apparatus may be made of elegant appearance and may be provided with a dummy rider, dress-stand, or the like, so as to exhibit the positions taken by the rider with diiferent adjustments, and also, if necessary, and particularly in' the case of lady riders, to indicate the effect of the various positions upon the riders dress, so that this device, besides serving the extremely useful purpose of enabling the rider to have the machine adjusted, so that when it comes it may properly fit him, may also serve for exhibition purposes to show off dresses, machine attachments, and the like. An intending rider would go to a shop where such a machine was employed, would adjust it to his requirements, and the order for the machine would then be delivered with special numbers or other indications, so that the factory having these would know precisely what the various adjustments were. Plates or representations of the machine, giving the numbers of the adjustments and index-scales or other arrangements for facilitating the correct understanding of the adj ustments, may be used.

I claim 1. In an apparatus for predeterminin g cycle adjustments the combination with the main frame, the tubes A A the hollow spindles G and D, received respectively in said tubes, screw-threaded in their lower ends, and shafts carried in the lower ends of the tubes, screwthreaded at their upper ends to engage the screw-threads in the spindles O and D, and hand-wheels for positively rotating said shafts to move the spindles up or down; substantially as described.

2. In an apparatus forpredeterminin g cycle adjustments, the combination with the main frame, the tubes, A A the spindles corresponding to the handle-bar stem and seat-pillar carried in said tubes, the frame fixed to the heads of the spindles, the block arranged to travel back and forth in the frame, carrying the handlesand seat, the screw working through the block and hand-wheel for operating the screw; substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereto set my.

hand in the presence of the two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES THOMAS OROIVDEN.

WVitnesses:

FRED SHARPE, ARTHUR WM. LIGGINS. 

